Photo for residence permit: new requirements, sizes, color

Why do you need a photo for a residence permit in Russia?

Photographs for a residence permit are required, so any applicant will have to visit a photo studio before submitting an application. Without photographs, the inspector will refuse to accept documents. And the law will be completely on his side, since the photos are included in the list of papers for a residence permit, which is specified in the Regulations for issuing the status (Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 417).

A total of 4 photographs are needed: one will go into the residence permit document itself - it will be pasted onto the page with basic information about the owner of the document. Another photo will decorate your application for a residence permit. The remaining two are used for internal documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This is what the photo in the residence permit booklet looks like

Requirements for different serving options

For residence permits, color and black and white photos are allowed; the standard size is 3.5x4.5 cm.

General requirements for photographs:

Only the applicant must be in the photo; unauthorized persons are not allowed to be in the frame.
The photo is taken only from the front. At the same time, a citizen should not distort his face or smile. The facial expression should be as calm as possible.
It is prohibited to wear makeup that could distort facial features.
You cannot be photographed wearing a headdress. An exception is made for religious citizens who wear it constantly, but the oval of the face must be clearly visible in the photo.
It is not recommended to take pictures for a Russian residence permit while wearing a wig.
Photos with glasses are allowed only to citizens who use them for vision correction and wear them constantly. Glasses are allowed only with transparent lenses and thin frames. Glasses must be removed before shooting if they cover most of the face.
To prevent your ID photos from being returned, it is recommended that you contact a professional photography studio.

The photographs are provided to the migration service along with a set of necessary documentation for obtaining a residence permit. You need 4 of them. This requirement applies to all citizens of other states.

Migration department employees check the date of photography. Photos must not be more than 4 months old at the time of application.

Electronic photo

The law does not prohibit submitting photos in electronic form, but they are accepted only in JPEG format; the size of the electronic file plays a huge role - it should not be more than 300 KB, otherwise the application will be refused.

When shooting, special attention should be paid to the following parameters:

background - only light colors;
It is prohibited to use retouching;
head height in the picture is 3.2−3.6 cm, width — 1.8−3.5 cm:
Red-eye effect is not allowed.

If the photo does not meet even one of the listed points, the application for a residence permit will be rejected.

Photograph on paper

Paper photographs can be taken in a professional photo studio.

Requirements for photo for residence permit for paper media:

facial features must be clearly visible in the image;
photos are taken on a white background;
The Russian size set for photographs is 3.5×4.5 cm;
the face is located in the center, occupying most of the photograph, but not more than 70%;
printing is carried out on special matte paper for photographs (glossy format is prohibited);
The color of the person’s eyes must be clearly visible in the image; to do this, they must be opened moderately wide;
the gaze is directed directly into the lens.

Many departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for migration issues have their own mini-photo studios for making photographs for documents.

Therefore, if possible, it is better to take photographs for documents for a residence permit in photo salons associated with the migration department.

Number and size of photos for residence permit

The photo size must be strictly 35 x 45 mm . The same format is used when issuing a passport. The Regulations state that the card must show a close-up view of the head and the top of the shoulders. But at the same time, the distance from the top of the head to the chin should not exceed 80% of the entire image.

As for quantity. An adult applicant will be expected to submit 4 photographs . If a foreign citizen includes a child in the application for a residence permit, photographs of the minor will also be needed in the amount of 4 pieces . Stateless persons provide 2 photographs .

General requirements

When submitting documents for a residence permit, stateless persons provide 2 photographs. For citizens of other countries, 4 is required.

They must comply with the following standards:

Sample and dimensions of the photograph.

Size 35x45 mm.
Color is allowed both black and white and color.
Only a full face image.
The entire face fits: from the chin to the crown.
The eyes look straight.
The face is clearly in the center. Its height is 25–35 mm, which is 70–80% of the total area of the photo.
After the photo was taken and submitted to the Federal Migration Service, no more than six months passed.
The paper for photo printing is matte.
It is allowed to provide photos of foreign citizens wearing a headdress for religious reasons, as long as it does not hide the oval of the face.
Those who constantly use glasses should keep them on while shooting. At the same time, photographs with tinted glasses are prohibited.
Facial expression should be neutral.
Retouching is prohibited.

How should applicants appear in the photo for a residence permit in Russia?

There are several parameters regarding the appearance of foreign citizens:

Look straight into the camera. Head tilts and profile photos are not suitable. When submitting documents for a residence permit, inspectors want to see photographs in which the face is shown from the front and the person is looking in front of him. Eyes, of course, must be open.
The eyes should be clearly visible. The Regulations state that hair should not cover the eyes. If a person, for example, wears long bangs, then he will need to style them so that they do not obscure his eyes.
Don't take off your glasses. This requirement applies only to those who constantly wear glasses due to vision problems. Such people must definitely wear glasses. But there is a clause in the Regulations - the accessory must have transparent glass . If you are wearing tinted glasses in the image, such photos will not be accepted. In photographs with glasses, the eyes must be clearly visible (photos with glare and other errors are not allowed), and the frames must not obscure the eyes. Only people who need these items for medical reasons to be photographed wearing dark glasses or a blindfold .
Take pictures without a headdress. When applying for a residence permit, the photo is taken without a headdress so that the face is clearly visible in the frame. Therefore, for the duration of photography, caps, hats, etc. needs to be removed. Only representatives of those religions that prohibit their adherents from being in front of strangers with their heads uncovered can leave their headdress on and be photographed in it. But even in this case, the face should look open, that is, the clothing should not cover the oval of the face.
Age appropriate. The photograph must correspond to the age of the applicant on the day of submission of documents for a residence permit. Therefore, photographs taken, for example, 10 years ago, will not be suitable.
White background. The regulations separately stipulate the requirements for the background of the image on the residence permit. It must be white and must not have spots, shadows, stripes or any foreign objects on it.
You cannot appear in uniform . It is prohibited to be photographed in uniform or outerwear. If the applicant decides to pose wearing a scarf, then this accessory should not cover part of the face.
Photo without artistic processing. Artistic processing of photographs, changes and editing of photographs to improve the appearance of the photographed person are not allowed.

“The image must show all the features of the person being photographed,”
— from the Regulations for issuing residence permits (order No. 417).

You need to look directly into the camera.
To summarize, here is a table with the main parameters for a photo on a residence permit.

Options	Requirements
Quantity	4 pieces
Dimensions	35x45 mm
Paper type	matte
Background	white
Chroma	colored or b/w
Cloth	anything except the form

Briefly about the photo requirements for a residence permit

Is it necessary to include a photo in the application for a residence permit?

If you are applying for a residence permit in Russia, then you don’t need to do anything with the photographs . In the form you received them from the photographer, bring them to the inspector in that form.

There is no need to cut the pictures. Glue it too.

If you have already cut up the photos, it is better to take new ones. When accepting papers for a residence permit, this point is important for migration department employees.

Photos for residence permit in electronic format: acceptable or not?

What medical certificates are needed for a residence permit?

Marina Danilova
28.12.2020

Even if the photographs look as required by the rules, they will not be accepted in electronic format. Therefore, for a residence permit, it is necessary to bring images made on paper.

At one time, Russia allowed you to apply for a residence permit through the State Services website. Accordingly, then it was possible to provide electronic photographs. But according to data for 2021, applications can only be submitted in person - through the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the migration center. And there they will only accept your photos in paper format.

How to scan a photo using a scanner

When scanning, you must follow some rules that can help improve the quality of digital copies.

If possible, follow these recommendations:

Place the photo as flat as possible on the scanner glass.
If there are cracks in the photo, place the photo so that the crack is perpendicular to the path of the scanner lamp.
It is advisable to set the scanner resolution to at least 600 dpi.
It is better to use TIFF as the output graphics format rather than JPG or PNG.
Do not use scanner software to process photos if this functionality is available there.

When scanning photos, you need to select the minimum resolution - at least 300 dpi, and better - 600 dpi. A higher resolution will improve the quality of the final image.

It is better to save the photo in TIFF format without compression to avoid losing information in the image. After receiving a digital photo and subsequent processing in a graphics editor, the finished image can be saved, for example, in JPG (JPEG) format with slight compression.

When we scan old photos, we need to preserve the original image in its original form, so subsequent image processing is better done in Photoshop or another similar graphics application, rather than using scanner software.

After scanning, we receive the scan in digital form, and then, if necessary, using software - a graphics program, we carry out work to restore or improve the appearance of the images on the computer.

Where do they take photographs for a residence permit?

You can take pictures in the photo studio

How and where to take the residence permit exam

Elena Voropaeva
08.12.2020

There will be no problems with this. Any photo studio that takes passport photos and other documents will take the necessary photographs for you.

In addition, there are often departments at the Ministry of Internal Affairs where photographs are taken. Therefore, you can take a photo directly on the territory of the migration department.

Read in other materials what is included in the list of documents for a residence permit in addition to a photo and how to correctly fill out an application for status.